Post by Dave on May 21, 2010 20:56:34 GMT
Not long after writing my piece last week for poster of the week, Jon added to the thread the following words.
What you have to remember is that it is the people who know you that love you and the people who don't know you that hate you. It's best to have it that way round!
If they weren't spitting poison and bitterness at you, they'd be spitting it at somebody else. Paul Buckle and Colin Lee probably appreciate somebody else taking a turn in the stocks!
What I did not expect was for Colin Lee to come and steal the spotlight of me so soon. Mind you there have been times in my life when the spotlights really were shinning on me and for all the right reasons, not too sure I was best pleased last week how things were twisted but I never lost any sleep over it as the truth always wins in the end.
A big story such as what has happened at the club this week is always going to have a major impact on the forum stats, I have talked before about the Forum Analytics that at this time only my account can view. On Wednesday the page views and visitor numbers almost doubled from the day before and there were certainly many more posts made than normal and thankfully the quality of the posting did not suffer.
Those stats were on page one that is just for the real-time stats and they update every second, page two has about six graphs for the last three months and the graphs really showed a large curve upwards for Wednesday and Thursday. There are a number of other pages that have many other stats and I look at them all daily and they mostly please me most days.
So who is this week’s winner?
Well he in not new to the title and he always writes thought provoking posts, once he gets going on a subject he likes to come back and add more and he certainly looks into everything very deeply and comes up with some good theories, even if they are sometimes well wide of the mark.
This week’s winner is Crispygull, well done Chris.
A few posts made by Chrispygull this week
Post I
Like most on here I am staggered at the level of losses reported for this coming financial year. It appears that the losses for last year of c £700k were largely planned through investment into the club - but the current loss seems to have caught the BOD by surprise, which in itself is very worrying!
It is a FACT that Simon Baker said just over three months ago at the Fans Forum (held on 1st February) that we were likely to make a "small" loss this year - clearly he was very wide of the mark!
Is it that much of a surprise though that we are running at a massive loss?
I say that because lets face it the gates/income we are getting now isn't that much different (i.e improved) surely to that which we were getting when Mike Bateson was in charge - if you "factor out" the additional income from Boots and Laces which was previously franchised out by the club (I'm not even sure we make a profit on it anyway?).
Under MB we usually pretty much broke even, give or take, most seasons.
Under the new regime though they have introduced a far more professional set up that has to come at a cost.
We know that we have a Chief Executive that cost £100k last year - Debbie Hancox fulfilled a similar role at a fraction of the cost. I believe the CE also enjoyed the use of a Company car as well - all fully expensed to the club. I used to laugh when I saw the "old banger" Debbie Hancox used to turn up in ... you would have thought her old man would have given her something a little more grand, but she wouldn't have had any of it anyway!
As for the playing squad, whilst there may been occasions when it seemed thin on the ground last season, it is all too easy to forget that in reality we were running a squad size of perhaps around 25 for most of last season. The fact that the likes of Hodges, Adams, Rice, Brough, Todd, Joyce and Green barely featured doesn't mean that we (in all probability) had to pick up a very large part of their wages for the whole of last season ... and indeed until the end of next month!
Not only that, but whereas in the past you would always have a few local lads in the squad who were prepared to pay for peanuts (Hockers, Hilly etc) those types of players seemingly have no place under the current regime.
We also have all the support staff ... the Coach (North), goalkeeping Coach (Veysey)the Assistant Manager/Chief Scout (Yems) ... Leroy worked on his own didn't he? Then of course there is the physio ... the "kid" (no disrespect meant but I cant remember his name) who was here when Bucks arrived was promptly shown the door - I'm not even sure he had all the necessary qualifications anyway did he ? - to be replaced by a professional physio (Davey) .... no doubt at considerably extra expense!
Then of course we have all the backroom staff - the full time Restaurant Manager and Stadium Manager - well under MB we didnt have a restaurant to speak of really and as for the Stadium Manager ... well we all know who ended up filling that role!
The Financial Controller came and went too ... I think its fair to say that MB did that job ... at no expense!
We've had the General Manager (Batten) come and go and various changes to the Commercial set up ... somehow we've ended up with two now .... while previously these roles were filled by the likes of Cedric Munslow and Julie Hoare at what I would imagine were relatively low cost.
Then of course there are the "overnight stays" for a large number of away games. That barely ever happened under the Batesons ... maybe two or three times a season? And then only to the most northern outposts .. otherwise it was travel up on the day!
The setting up of the youth academy, the improved training facilities, the refurbishment of the Gulls Nest and Number 10s, the vital equipment needed to maintain a decent playing surface ... how much investment went into these under MB? Very little I would suggest!
The fact is that everything at the club, from top to bottom, is run on a far more professional basis, and as fans we are pleased to see it .... but if we only just about broke even under the "old" regime ... where exactly was it expected that the money was going to come from to fund it all?
Did the new regime seriously expect a massive upturn in attendances? Did they seriously expect a massive upturn in commercial income from sponsorship, the Gulls Nest, Boots and Laces etc? I guess they may have done and lets face it the recession really didnt help but were they being realistic?
The point I am trying to make is that in order to make the club so much more professional ... it comes at a price and surely the new Board were not so naive as to not realise that?
Like I say we only just managed break even under Mike Bateson ... little wonder then that we are posting such massive losses now, given all that has happened at Plainmoor over the last three years.
Post 2
That is certainly not the case with Ellis as he was most definitely offered a contract extension in January. The fact that he chose not to sign it, probably in the main because he was concerned at the time for his future first team prospects, was perhaps understandable.
It was also obvious that back in January, frustrated at a lack of opportunities, that Carayol wanted out as well.
We can only hope that with both starting on a regular basis now, and clearly enjoying their football, that both still see a future for themselves at our football club. That said, given the "up and down season" that both have had, they are probably the two players I would be the least confident in retaining during the summer.
Personally I hope we can keep most of the current squad together for next season. I would like to see the likes of Branston and Rendell signed up, and Michael Poke too if there is any possibility. I dont expect to see any of the players currently out on loan to return, although I would be surprised if Matt Green isn't offered something (so as we at he very least get a fee for him) if he isn't sold beforehand.
Of the current squad, for me, the only players I would not expect to be retained would be Thompson (although according to miac he has already signed a new deal!) , Camara (obviously) and perhaps Rowe-Turner (although I wouldn't be disappointed to see him retained). I reckon we may see at least one of the two keepers move on - but not sure which one! I dont expect to see Adam Smith or Jake Thomson here next season either !
I would also be quite surprised (sadly) to see Kevin Nicholson here next season ... unless Bucks does a complete u-turn ... something which looked totally unlikely a little over a month ago, but maybe, just maybe, the performances of Nico over the last month might have changed his mind?
We shall see.
What you have to remember is that it is the people who know you that love you and the people who don't know you that hate you. It's best to have it that way round!
If they weren't spitting poison and bitterness at you, they'd be spitting it at somebody else. Paul Buckle and Colin Lee probably appreciate somebody else taking a turn in the stocks!
What I did not expect was for Colin Lee to come and steal the spotlight of me so soon. Mind you there have been times in my life when the spotlights really were shinning on me and for all the right reasons, not too sure I was best pleased last week how things were twisted but I never lost any sleep over it as the truth always wins in the end.
A big story such as what has happened at the club this week is always going to have a major impact on the forum stats, I have talked before about the Forum Analytics that at this time only my account can view. On Wednesday the page views and visitor numbers almost doubled from the day before and there were certainly many more posts made than normal and thankfully the quality of the posting did not suffer.
Those stats were on page one that is just for the real-time stats and they update every second, page two has about six graphs for the last three months and the graphs really showed a large curve upwards for Wednesday and Thursday. There are a number of other pages that have many other stats and I look at them all daily and they mostly please me most days.
So who is this week’s winner?
Well he in not new to the title and he always writes thought provoking posts, once he gets going on a subject he likes to come back and add more and he certainly looks into everything very deeply and comes up with some good theories, even if they are sometimes well wide of the mark.
This week’s winner is Crispygull, well done Chris.
A few posts made by Chrispygull this week
Post I
Like most on here I am staggered at the level of losses reported for this coming financial year. It appears that the losses for last year of c £700k were largely planned through investment into the club - but the current loss seems to have caught the BOD by surprise, which in itself is very worrying!
It is a FACT that Simon Baker said just over three months ago at the Fans Forum (held on 1st February) that we were likely to make a "small" loss this year - clearly he was very wide of the mark!
Is it that much of a surprise though that we are running at a massive loss?
I say that because lets face it the gates/income we are getting now isn't that much different (i.e improved) surely to that which we were getting when Mike Bateson was in charge - if you "factor out" the additional income from Boots and Laces which was previously franchised out by the club (I'm not even sure we make a profit on it anyway?).
Under MB we usually pretty much broke even, give or take, most seasons.
Under the new regime though they have introduced a far more professional set up that has to come at a cost.
We know that we have a Chief Executive that cost £100k last year - Debbie Hancox fulfilled a similar role at a fraction of the cost. I believe the CE also enjoyed the use of a Company car as well - all fully expensed to the club. I used to laugh when I saw the "old banger" Debbie Hancox used to turn up in ... you would have thought her old man would have given her something a little more grand, but she wouldn't have had any of it anyway!
As for the playing squad, whilst there may been occasions when it seemed thin on the ground last season, it is all too easy to forget that in reality we were running a squad size of perhaps around 25 for most of last season. The fact that the likes of Hodges, Adams, Rice, Brough, Todd, Joyce and Green barely featured doesn't mean that we (in all probability) had to pick up a very large part of their wages for the whole of last season ... and indeed until the end of next month!
Not only that, but whereas in the past you would always have a few local lads in the squad who were prepared to pay for peanuts (Hockers, Hilly etc) those types of players seemingly have no place under the current regime.
We also have all the support staff ... the Coach (North), goalkeeping Coach (Veysey)the Assistant Manager/Chief Scout (Yems) ... Leroy worked on his own didn't he? Then of course there is the physio ... the "kid" (no disrespect meant but I cant remember his name) who was here when Bucks arrived was promptly shown the door - I'm not even sure he had all the necessary qualifications anyway did he ? - to be replaced by a professional physio (Davey) .... no doubt at considerably extra expense!
Then of course we have all the backroom staff - the full time Restaurant Manager and Stadium Manager - well under MB we didnt have a restaurant to speak of really and as for the Stadium Manager ... well we all know who ended up filling that role!
The Financial Controller came and went too ... I think its fair to say that MB did that job ... at no expense!
We've had the General Manager (Batten) come and go and various changes to the Commercial set up ... somehow we've ended up with two now .... while previously these roles were filled by the likes of Cedric Munslow and Julie Hoare at what I would imagine were relatively low cost.
Then of course there are the "overnight stays" for a large number of away games. That barely ever happened under the Batesons ... maybe two or three times a season? And then only to the most northern outposts .. otherwise it was travel up on the day!
The setting up of the youth academy, the improved training facilities, the refurbishment of the Gulls Nest and Number 10s, the vital equipment needed to maintain a decent playing surface ... how much investment went into these under MB? Very little I would suggest!
The fact is that everything at the club, from top to bottom, is run on a far more professional basis, and as fans we are pleased to see it .... but if we only just about broke even under the "old" regime ... where exactly was it expected that the money was going to come from to fund it all?
Did the new regime seriously expect a massive upturn in attendances? Did they seriously expect a massive upturn in commercial income from sponsorship, the Gulls Nest, Boots and Laces etc? I guess they may have done and lets face it the recession really didnt help but were they being realistic?
The point I am trying to make is that in order to make the club so much more professional ... it comes at a price and surely the new Board were not so naive as to not realise that?
Like I say we only just managed break even under Mike Bateson ... little wonder then that we are posting such massive losses now, given all that has happened at Plainmoor over the last three years.
Post 2
That is certainly not the case with Ellis as he was most definitely offered a contract extension in January. The fact that he chose not to sign it, probably in the main because he was concerned at the time for his future first team prospects, was perhaps understandable.
It was also obvious that back in January, frustrated at a lack of opportunities, that Carayol wanted out as well.
We can only hope that with both starting on a regular basis now, and clearly enjoying their football, that both still see a future for themselves at our football club. That said, given the "up and down season" that both have had, they are probably the two players I would be the least confident in retaining during the summer.
Personally I hope we can keep most of the current squad together for next season. I would like to see the likes of Branston and Rendell signed up, and Michael Poke too if there is any possibility. I dont expect to see any of the players currently out on loan to return, although I would be surprised if Matt Green isn't offered something (so as we at he very least get a fee for him) if he isn't sold beforehand.
Of the current squad, for me, the only players I would not expect to be retained would be Thompson (although according to miac he has already signed a new deal!) , Camara (obviously) and perhaps Rowe-Turner (although I wouldn't be disappointed to see him retained). I reckon we may see at least one of the two keepers move on - but not sure which one! I dont expect to see Adam Smith or Jake Thomson here next season either !
I would also be quite surprised (sadly) to see Kevin Nicholson here next season ... unless Bucks does a complete u-turn ... something which looked totally unlikely a little over a month ago, but maybe, just maybe, the performances of Nico over the last month might have changed his mind?
We shall see.
;D - supposedly! 